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Heather Griffiths

Professor Granillo

English 101

19 January 2020

African Americans and White Americans: Different Perspectives

Although death is a solemn topic often found in many pathos appeals, creators haven’t

shied away from using this topic and other sensitive topics to create appeals to emotion. Hanif

Abdurraqib has used musicians and their stories to create pathos appeals. Abdurraqib is an

African American poet who has mastered the use of rhetoric appeals like ethos and pathos in his

book “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us”, a collection of essays written about different

musicians. One essay, “A Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America” focuses on Bruce

Springsteen’s album, The River, and how Abdurraqib’s view of this album has changed. “A

Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America” focuses on Abdurraqib’s use of ethos and pathos to

incorporate the themes of death and work in order to convey his new interpretation of The River;

the difference in this interpretation on the River is a motivation for Abdurraqib to explore the

differences in the lives of African Americans and white Americans and this difference is what

makes the essay so important.

Abdurraqib was motivated to write this essay in order to express his new interpretation on

The River and how this interpretation relates to the lives of African Americans. He begins

writing about his first interpretation of the album, which he thought to be about living to “the

best of your ability before the clock runs out” (Abdurraqib 18). It is only after Abdurraqib

realizes the different struggles that African Americans have with death that he comes up with a
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new interpretation of the album. It includes the perspective of the writer, who wrote it,

understanding “that he was going to live for a long time” (Abdurraqib 20). Most African

Americans, as Abdurraqib realizes, do not have this optimistic perspective on their own lives.

The difference between most white Americans’ and most African Americans’ outlooks on death

and experience with work allows Abdurraqib to see the inherent optimism found in white

America’s outlook, which is portrayed on The River. Abdurraqib’s use of ethos throughout this

essay adds another layer of his commentary of death on the essay.

Abdurraqib uses ethos to describe how The River and African American’s views on death

are different. Ethos is a rhetoric appeal that is used to increase an author’s credibility. As an

African American himself, Abdurraqib understands their concerns about being killed by the

police. One example of this sad tragedy is of Michael Brown’s death by a white police officer. In

this essay, Abdurraqib describes visiting Brown’s memorial and feeling “a sadness and rage that

had become a very real part of [his] life” (Abdurraqib 18). His own experiences in life allow him

to better understand this perspective about death. He has learned, whether consciously or

unconsciously, from his parents, the community around him, and from his own experiences. This

allows his audience to recognize his credibility on the issue, not only because he himself is

African American, but also because of how carefully he addresses African Americans’

perspectives. At the Springsteen concert, Abdurraqib notices that “the only other black people

[he] saw were performing labor in some capacity” (Abdurraqib 19). This would have been

ignored by many others. Abdurraqib addresses it instead of copying how the others reacted.

Abdurraqib’s useful perspective emphasizes his credibility on his commentary on The

River. Abdurraqib uses ethos to detail another theme found within this essay.
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Abdurraqib uses ethos to articulate the theme of work throughout this essay, including the

hardships African Americans experience while working. Abdurraqib describes the difference

between the River’s portrayal of romantic work and work that is done for survival. He

“[understands] being black in America, and [he understands] being poor in America”

(Abdurraqib 20). Most white Americans would have romanticized work, as they didn’t live from

paycheck to paycheck like many African Americans did. Abdurraqib recognizes this, as he

understands what it is like to be poor, a situation that many African Americans relate to. He is

also able to understand the differences between these two perspectives. He explains how “hard,

beautiful, romantic work is a dream sold a lot easier by someone who currently knows where

their next meal will come from” (Abdurraqib 20). Abdurraqib understands how easy it is for

others to romanticize work. Throughout this essay, he is not only able to elaborate on his own

perspective, but also is able to skillfully explain the opposite view. Abdurraqib’s use of rhetoric

appeals stretches to include the use of pathos in “A Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America”.

Abdurraqib uses pathos, another rhetoric appeal, in order to describe how death is

incorporated into The River and the opposing views between African Americans and white

Americans. Pathos is a rhetoric appeal that authors use to evoke emotion in their audiences in

order to persuade them to agree or disagree with their perspective. Abdurraqib consistently does

not shy away from using pathos to leave a mark on his readers. He bluntly describes how the

River is about “a specific type of optimism [about living for a long time]-one not afforded to

everyone who listens to it” (Abdurraqib 20). Not everyone believes that they will be able to live

for a long time, especially those that are in lower-socioeconomic classes. This concept especially

applied to African Americans in 2016, as they were being murdered by police officers. Many

began to fear the police as a result, and did not carry this optimism about living in themselves
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and for their families. This effective use of pathos to capture the uncertainty and fear of death in

African Americans forces readers to look at The River the way Abdurraqib does.

Abdurraqib uses pathos to explain his views on the white America’s romanticization of

work. While attending a Bruce Springsteen concert, Abdurraqib notices “a young black man….

sitting on a step, covered in swear, and rubbing his right ankle. A man… yelled at him to move”

(Abdurraqib 20). This description of the African American, trying to rest after vending at the

concert, is meant to evoke pity for the African American man, and perhaps a little anger at the

man yelling at him. It allows Abdurraqib’s readers to understand why many African Americans

do not romanticize their work. It may be because of the unfair treatment, blatant racism, or

perhaps the low pay, that creates animosity towards their own workplaces. Most of white

America, however, can easily avoid the racist comments or unfair wages that many African

Americans have, giving them the opportunity to love and begin to romanticize their work, with

the help of Springsteen’s album’s messages depicting how great work can be. Abdurraqib once

again clearly understands and communicates these two perspectives on work into this essay.

“A Night in Springsteen’s America” was written by Abdurraqib to describe the

differences between African Americans’ experiences with work and death as seen by his own

experiences and white Americans’ experiences as seen by the songs in Bruce Springsteen’s The

River. Abdurraqib’s combination of ethos and pathos in order to further describe this relationship

and the themes of work and death has elevated his essay. This essay acts as yet another bridge

for white Americans to better understand African Americans.

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Works Cited
Abdurraqib, Hanif. “A Night in Bruce Springsteen’s America.” They Can’t Kill Us Until They

Kill Us, Two Dollar Radio, 2017, pp. 17-22.